Football notebook: Minisink coach proud of effort vs. champs

As hard as it was to admit, Minisink Valley coach Kevin Gallagher broke down after scrimmaging defending state Class A champion Maine-Endwell on Saturday.

Tough, fast and physical, Maine-Endwell, coached by Gallagher's brother, Matt, overwhelmed the Warriors a bit early on. However, although no score was kept, Minisink Valley rallied to keep Gallagher vs. Gallagher interesting.

JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

As hard as it was to admit, Minisink Valley coach Kevin Gallagher broke down after scrimmaging defending state Class A champion Maine-Endwell on Saturday.

Tough, fast and physical, Maine-Endwell, coached by Gallagher's brother, Matt, overwhelmed the Warriors a bit early on. However, although no score was kept, Minisink Valley rallied to keep Gallagher vs. Gallagher interesting.

"We got better as we went, I got happier," Kevin Gallagher said. "I wasn't happy at the beginning. Maine-Endwell is definitely a very good team."

Kevin Gallagher (quarterback) and Matt Gallagher (lineman) are both former Minisink Valley football players. In addition to facing off with his kid brother, Kevin Gallagher took on his two nephews. One of Matt Gallagher's sons, Kyle, a junior, is Maine-Endwell's returning starting quarterback. Another, Adam, a sophomore, starts at wide receiver.

Maine-Endwell, located near Binghamton, finished 12-0 last year and overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat Burnt Hills 27-20 in the Class A championship at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Burnt Hills defeated Section 9 Class A champion Cornwall 35-14 in the state semifinals. Maine-Endwell, which was moved to Class B this year, returns 19 starters.

"Coach (Kevin) Gallagher was talking about this game the whole week," Minisink Valley quarterback Sean Tirelli said. "Three months ago, he knew this was going to happen. He took pride in it, and I think he's happy."

"I'd say in practice we hold back more than we did today because usually a lot of people don't give 100 percent in practice," said Mike White, Cornwall's junior quarterback, "but Warwick, they gave us a good look. We got 100 percent from them and we gave 100 percent, too, so it was good."

White, who started last year as a sophomore, is one the many returning players with experience at the skill positions. Cornwall, however, will be rebuilding on the offensive line.

"We have a couple of linemen coming back, Hunter Misuraca and Connor Staudle, but we also have kids stepping up for us, so that's good," White said. "We're not sure what we're going to do. Are we going to run more or are we going to pass more? We're not really sure yet."

White posed a challenge for the Warwick defense, which allowed an average of 29.1 points per game in 2011 — and that includes a shutout win over Valley Central and a 33-3 victory over Minisink Valley.

Warwick senior linebacker A.J. Sakac was impressed by what he saw in the scrimmage, including the play of junior defensive end Michael Houlihan, senior outside linebacker John O'Leary and senior strong safety Nat Vargas, who intercepted a White pass.

"They're a very good test," Sakac said of Cornwall. "They gave our passing game a very good test because, with Mike White, they like to throw the ball a lot with him. It gave our secondary something to work for and it gave our line time to show what they've got. A lot of kids stepped up to show what they can do."

The highlight of the first week of the regular season will be Warwick's game at Newburgh Free Academy at 7 p.m. Friday night. It's a rematch of last year's Section 9 Class AA championship game.

Sunday morning, Sakac planned to go over game film of Saturday's scrimmage. He's also rewound the tape from last year's Section 9 final "a thousand times."

"I watch three hours of film a night," Sakac said. "I just go over and tell all the younger guys to do it, too. If you know as much as you can, you'll make life so much easier during the game."

Monroe-Woodbury played host to Section 2's Colonie, and Kevin Carr, a junior quarterback, got his first look as the Crusaders' starter.

"It was really fun. Our team played more than well and it was a good confidence boost," he said.

Carr's predecessors — Ryan Spelman, Danny Scalo and Greg Sullivan among them — have set the bar high for quarterback play at Monroe-Woodbury.

There have also been a number of changes on the coaching staff this season. Former defensive coordinator Bernie Connolly takes over as head coach for Pat D'Aliso, who now serves as offensive coordinator.

Despite the new coaching arrangement, Carr said Saturday's scrimmage felt like game days did last year.

"Coach D still calls all the plays for the offense and that's what I was used to last year because I was on offense the whole time. Nothing different," Carr said.

The Crusaders have two weeks of practice under their belts, but being able to play against a team in different-colored jerseys certainly ramped up the intensity.

"We're much more excited because we're going against another team and we get to hit someone that's not our own player," Carr said. "We don't want to hurt our own players, so you can hit harder playing against other teams."

After failing to qualify for the Section 9 Class AA playoffs in 2011, the Crusaders were just glad to get on the field again and take that first step toward a postseason berth in 2012.

"It was tough not getting to the playoffs, but this year we're happy to be back," Carr said. "We're hungry. We're ready to play."

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